"I loved The Senators, they were a gift from heaven to me. They were an unashamed beat group, with a repertoire nicked from the -'This is Mersey Beat LP'S.'

The big guys like The Beat Boysand Long & The Short were superb, but because they were so popular, the chance to see them became less and less as they played away from local gigs.

Not so The Senators: I could catch them most weekends at local youth clubs. They were all friendly guys, and I ended up playing with three of them in different groups later.

Polished they were not, but they were loud. and heavily rockin' and I was impressed by their sheer energy: Think The Beatles in Hamburg with Stuart Sutcliffe and you have The Senators nailed. I even booked them for a school dance.

I got some early guitar lessons from Jimmy Thurston R-I-P. In fact he showed me my first chords."Mitch Mitchinson: August 2010